A DISTRAUGHT Teesside pigeon fancier has spoken of his horror after his birds were burned alive in an early hours arson attack.

Malcolm Everington lost 14 young birds - nearly half his stock - in the blaze on Tuesday morning.

He was awoken at about 3.50am by a neighbour banging on his door.

He rushed to the back of his house in The Fleet, Dormanstown, to find firefighters tackling the blaze.

To his horror, the larger of his two lofts, measuring about 12ft x 6ft, was burned to the ground, with dead, blackened pigeons lying everywhere.

Mr Everington, 56, says birds and property worth about £4,500 were burned in the blaze.

He’s now left to pick up the pieces of a hobby he returned to just over a year ago after a lay-off, but had already enjoyed some encouraging 2nd, 3rd and 4th placings.

He said: “A neighbour knocked and said the fire brigade was here.

“When I got to the back of the house, the loft was already burned out - they were just damping it down.

“The birds were completely cooked - I couldn’t believe it.

“ I’m gutted, absolutely gutted. You couldn’t get any more tears from me.”

Mr Everington, a gardener by trade but currently unemployed says he has no intention of giving up on the hobby he’s grown to love again.

And colleagues in the Up North Combine pigeon group and the Dormanstown Homing Society pigeon club are already rallying round to help him by offering wood for a new loft and temporary premises for his remaining 16 birds.

He said: “They’ve been offering condolences and saying they’ll help me start again, which I definitely want to do.”

A Cleveland Police spokeswoman said a 22-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of arson, but anyone with information is still sought.